The first game I will play on my new GTX 1080 is going to be Prey 2017.
I've heard nothing but great things about it. While not a direct sequel to the original Prey in style, its said to be inspired by System Shock and is more of an RPG. I'm really looking forward to it.

This game may be the catalyst for me to do my new build if I cant play it with very high settings on my old rig, but actually I dont expect any problems with ny C2Q and 1080, since all games these days have to cater for console limits.

Sci-fi action adventures are always great fun and apparently the game has alternate endings with problem solving involved. The player can choose their style of play from stealth to run and gun with an emphasis on exploration.
Its said to have a good story integrated with the gameplay with a sense of scope.
Anyone else here considering this game?

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The first game I will play on my new GTX 1080 is going to be Prey 2017.
I've heard nothing but great things about it. While not a direct sequel to the original Prey in style, its said to be inspired by System Shock and is more of an RPG. I'm really looking forward to it.

This game may be the catalyst for me to do my new build if I cant play it with very high settings on my old rig, but actually I dont expect any problems with ny C2Q and 1080, since all games these days have to cater for console limits.

Sci-fi action adventures are always great fun and apparently the game has alternate endings with problem solving involved. The player can choose their style of play from stealth to run and gun with an emphasis on exploration.
Its said to have a good story integrated with the gameplay with a sense of scope.
Anyone else here considering this game?

I dont think so, but typically with gaming cards they do... maybe, wont know until I get it

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Warning- be aware that many flipping game review sites are writing annoying spoilers on many aspects of the game in their reviews, including story and gameplay aspects.

Reviewers are obviously struggling with the game too as I see a lack of consistency between the reviews on the aspects they're focussing on.
I suspect this game is a little different. Ultimately the reviews have told me nothing other than the game is worth playing.

I've installed it but only got as far as the chopper ride due to time constraint. I hope to be able to play some tonight and will post later.

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Initial observations (and I'm only at the Lobby, so early days):
Firstly; the performance is excellent on my rig, a 1080 is overkill for this at 1080P. Everything is maxed out and its very smooth and nailed to my 60 FPS frame limit. It feels well optimised on my rig.

Its heavily consolised, no surprises there, but very playable on PC. Usual console warts such as a menu obviously designed for controllers with big mashable buttons and missing PC settings such as FOV or texture detail sliders. (FOV can be adjusted in a config file). When books are opened you get a very boring PC style window filled with printed text, no attempt at an actual book format. OTOH, emails have been carefully formatted like actual emails... weird, looks like the developers don't know what a book actually looks or feels like anymore.

FOV is set to 85 which is way too narrow. Trouble is the config file only changes the FOV on the scene and not the guns so setting FOV high results in large looking guns.

There's a few objects in the game world that you can interact with, not crazy like F.E.A.R where every step sends stuff flying, but quite a few.

Oddly my advanced video settings only go to "Very High" on the various available settings although I read online about "Ultra". Maybe the demo had "Ultra" but the game doesn't. This needs further investigation.

The visual art is initially spartan although very nice looking. Bright with eye-popping textures in most cases. Its stylised but not in a steam punk way or Dishonored style, or even Bioshock style, more ultra-modern looking with lots of right angles, but with elements of those other recent games. Reminds me of GTA V too for some reason, probably because of all the angular shapes.

Sound scape is fantastic. 3D is punchy and has plenty of depth. I haven't heard many voices being played at once yet though. The ambient music is not too bad and I've left it on. May turn it off though as it always makes me feel like I have company when I really want that feeling of being alone. Music is like a reliable friend at your shoulder, letting you know when things are going to hell or praising you when you've done well - just destroys the "on your own" experience IMO.

Controls feel excellent although you must map your keys the way you like and that takes some time to get right. There are lean keys and quick save although quick save is hard coded to F5, lol. The UI is clean and easy to navigate - (consolitis again).

As to the story and the gameplay, everything I've seen so far is derivative. I'm sure I could trace every feature to a pre-existing game. Of course the whole will be greater than the sum of its parts and its to too early to say if the game is innovative or not. We will see.

There are tons of exploration opportunities and a sense of threat which ratchets up the tension and I see that there can be multiple ways to solve problems, although mostly simple puzzles. This isn't Portal as far as puzzles go.

There are some annoying retrograde things that really bother me when I encounter them. For example; mirrors don't reflect. I know, too laggy for consoles, but sheesh I have a 1080 dammit! Water does not look realistic in most cases. Water has been perfected in other games already so this is annoying to see in a new game. I don't know if I can get used to the torch light either. Shadow quality is poor. Aspect not quite right on some objects. Some textures better than others, meh.

As to the story; so far nothing new here, we've been in this kind of thing before, think System Shock, Half Life, Far Cry, DOOM, Crysis, Bioshock,, etc. Its too early yet for me to say if it offers anything new.
[edit - I should add there is way too much exposition via emails so far, very DOOM style]

The rpg elements are of interest but so far its light touch. This is not Fallout, no complex character configuration settings here. There's an abilities tree, powers, inventory and quests. I haven't encountered it yet but I'm sure there will be stations where you can mod your gear and add pretty textures and so on. I hate that stuff. Otherwise its the good old pick-ups model where stuff is just left lying around in convenient locations for us to pick up.

So far I'm enjoying it. Hope to get some more game time in over the next few days.

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Further advanced.
The game plays like Bioshock and you can see the System Shock influence.

Its not as scary as Alien Isolation, IMO and not like F.E.A.R for scares and certainly not like DOOM.
You get too busy fighting to be scared.

Weapon modification and upgrades is not too tedious. You do have to collect junk all the time but not too much.
While you can solve problems in several ways there are limits. The main quest also herds you down a pre-defined path. Side quests are ok, not annoying like 'clear the area' and such, more relevant to the story.
Enemy AI seems predictable but you WILL die in this game. Frequently. Many areas almost require you to die so that you know what needs to be done to advance. The enemies are too quick to allow time to react properly sometimes.

More annoyances, duck and stand are almost instantaneous. I never like that as its not realistic. Level loads are slow. Lots of exposition via email, as I said before.

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Yes, you can save to save slots as well as a quick save.
You can load from the last save or choose a slot.

I'm playing on normal which is actually challenging. As I said dying seems to be normal part of the gameplay so I'm pretty familiar with the save/load procedure!

As to that I've found a fromtal assault on a Phantom is usually fatal, for me. Stealth is very important tactic but this is not Dishonored or even Alien Isolation and theres not much cover. Still trying to figure out the best approach that suits me. I've started carrying a heavy automatic turret around with me just so I have a chance of survival when I enter a new area, Half Life style.

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The inventory/building sequence is interesting; you collect junk as you go, Fo4 style, but you then need to transform the junk into raw materials before you can use it. Its interesting because it means you track the raw materials, not the junk.
I havent decided if it adds any value to gameplay, but the machines involved are physically seperate so I think it gives the developer additional options to make life hard for the player (as in you have to find the machines).

Theres no animation where you stand at a bench with a ball hammer hitting metal into shape, its all done by a quick machine animation.
I like it because it means no time spent entering and leaving build mode like other games. Its also more seamless because you dont lose control of your character.

Machinery also needs maintenance and repair so inventory management is important.

One of the first early weapons is a "gloo gun"'which is very useful and one of the things you can do with it is build frameworks to climb up or down. This adds to the puzzle solving approach. My only concern with the puzzles so far is that they're simple and obvious, hopefully options get better later.

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I've decided I like the game so far. I'm still evolving my tactics but stealth plays a key role, as does improvisation and assault.
Theres a few nods to previous well known games here but it does put everyhing together well.
Something I appreciate is the obvious focus on maintaining pace without interruptions like cut scenes and building or useless side quests. I suppose the oppposite of that is that its not like STALKER or Fallout where just random exploration is rewarding, this is much more mission driven.

I've met up with January and the plot thickens.

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I'm getting into the game, developing a rhythm.
I'm at the G.U.T.S making my way to the Arboretum. I have a sinking feeling that I should have leveled up much more before getting this far, hmm. Seems like there are some key missing skills related to repair and moving stuff around that I currently lack.

There's a nice sense of tension as you navigate the environments, trying to make your way to the objectives, monitoring for aliens and collecting stuff.
The puzzles continue to be fairly simplistic, but there are various solution options available, requiring some thought as to how best to proceed. Sometimes its not obvious.
There's a small nod to the original Prey in the way that you adopt various aspects when navigating some of the environments.

I've found that the game proceeds in a linear fashion driven by objectives, although each level is like a big sandbox with lots of toing and froing between. I managed to navigate into a section that I don't think I was supposed to be in. It was difficult but I persevered and then eventually turned back to the main quest when I became out gunned. I don't know if that's by design or if it was a mistake in the level design.

The environments feel empty of humanity, which is probably by design to promote a sense of being alone, but its so busy with many robots and enemies and guides about that I never feel lonely as such. It just seems odd that there's no obvious signs of struggle and not too many survivors holed up anywhere. Sure stuff is laying about and there's a lot of gloo but wouldn't there be more signs of a struggle, like blood?

I'm mostly relying on the shotgun, gloo gun and mimic while occasionally slowing time. I've barely scratched the ability trees, but cant seem to find many neuromods which is a little frustrating.

There is a lot to appreciate and like in this game. Graphics are bright and clean and level design is good. The changing environments that you encounter reduce fatigue and keep the interest up. The constant tension is maintained and the need to solve obstacles to progress adds interest, but there are some very apparent omissions that are disappointing and keeping the game from being all it could be, IMO.

I think the big thing that stops the game from being something special though, is the low level of A.I. Unfortunately the NPC A.I. displays basic behaviour and the conversation is limited. For example I freed a guy from a prison and, after interacting with him in a scripted way, he now just stands there, not moving and not saying anything more. Enemy behaviour is also predictable and follows preset way points. There is no chance of being chased or hunted here. NPC's pretty much patrol in their area and don't leave it. The game relies on the confusing map layouts and obstacles to deliver challenge, which is a strategy we've seen in many other games. There are many older games which do all this but also provide some smart A.I.

It does seem that the recent batch of games, apart from a couple of standouts, are relying on pretty eye candy and combat while A.I. and story aspects are being left behind. I believe this is a result of consolitis, where the consoles just don't have enough resources to support stronger A.I. or more detailed environments and the developers focus too much on shooter game play. This is really getting annoying because the PC currently has massive reserves of processing power. PC could easily support some beautiful object detail, detailed graphics and physics as well as very sophisticated A.I. processing.

I still feel that Alien Isolation is a good game to compare this to and it promoted far more dread than this game. Survival horror should promote dread as well as tension. I will have to play a lot more before making final judgement.

I continue to avoid spoilers at all costs and trying to learn how to play as I go.

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Thanks for the info Zap, I'm replaying the original Half Life for the umpteen time, what a great game, I forgot so much of it that I'm glad I'm replaying it! Love the story and for me the best game ever!

Thanks for the info Zap, I'm replaying the original Half Life for the umpteen time, what a great game, I forgot so much of it that I'm glad I'm replaying it! Love the story and for me the best game ever!

Well, speaking of old games and A.I., HL was a total stand out all those years ago. I remember at the beginning after the resonance cascade while exploring the building, looking for a way out, a head crab had followed me down a corridor and through a couple of rooms. I realised it was hunting me, extraordinary! That was completely new and set the tone for the rest of the game.
The NPC A.I. was really amazing. The scientists and Barney felt like real people, almost. That was 1998, flip, but we've gone nowhere since then.

I thought HALO A.I. was good. MOHAA had some moments. F.E.A.R, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. too.

We really need to move along now and beef up A.I. All of it, not just combat. I want to see NPC's reacting to the environment, taking initiative, being more of a real companion that just a pack horse.

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